How does Mintus select its Offerings?

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Every art offering on the Mintus platform is analysed using the following criteria for it to be considered a strong investment proposition:

  • Sustained auction track record
  • International appeal
  • Price velocity

Sustained Auction Track Record

What does a sustained auction track record mean? Essentially, the artist’s work must have appeared at auction regularly over a prolonged period (ideally 5+ years).

Auction track record is an important indicator of an artist’s secondary market. That is, it reflects the ease with which art collectors can sell on artworks to willing buyers in the future, as well as potential price points. Auctions are the primary source of art market data as the sole publicly accessible marketplace in the art industry. If an artist is regularly trading at auction over a sustained period, this not only provides numerous data points to analyse the artist’s market performance but displays the strength and longevity of that artist’s market.

International Appeal

International appeal is an indicator of the pool of potential buyers across the globe. This is defined by an artist’s appearance in international collections and exhibitions. An artist appearing in major international collections, whether institutional or private, reflects a global appreciation for the artist’s work and wide collector base for that artist.

Price Velocity

Price velocity is a gauge of an artist’s market momentum. Factors that affect an artist’s market momentum include recent auction performance and exhibition history.

An artist garnering multiple bids at auction and outperforming its estimates will have a positive price velocity, conversely an artist who is consistently failing to find buyers at auction – irrespective of how established they are – will have a negative price velocity.

The growth in exhibition appearances for an artist is also indicative of positive price velocity. Increasing frequency reflects greater cultural interest and market demand.

The calibre of exhibitions is important too: are the exhibitions solo shows or appearances in group shows? In museums or commercial galleries? Are they happening internationally or locally? Museum exhibitions are an acknowledgement of an artist’s cultural importance, whilst representation at a leading commercial gallery reflects high market demand.

Selecting the Artwork

Once an artist that meets the above criteria has been identified, our attention turns to the artwork. Mintus selects the best examples of an artist’s artwork by compiling the artist’s most desirable qualities through market research and then determining those opportunities that exemplify these characteristics.

If you have any further questions about how Mintus selects its offerings, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at [email protected].

***Image: Kitmin Lee. Courtesy of the artist and Skarstedt, New York, and Sprüth Magers, Berlin, London, Los Angeles.

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